[Paddlewise] A Thrill of a different sort

Yesterday I drove 200 miles round trip to buy a skin-on-frame greenland
kayak for $175. I figured that for that kind of money I couldn't go wrong.
It's only 15 feet long but I was hoping that it would be perfect for the two
girls (Hailey and Brianna) and the two boys (Ethan and Carter) when they're
ready.

Hailey, of course, has been paddling for a couple of years. Her enthusiasm
is spotty but last year she paddled Pam's F-1a ("a" being the slightly
smaller version, "b" the standard - most like a Coaster - version, and "c"
being my slightly larger version... I made them all up myself) and wore
herself out chasing ducks. I had to tow her when the wind came up. We
paddled maybe 3/4 of a mile.

Today, after school, Hailey came over and changed into play clothes and a
PFD and we gave it a try. I had put a foam seat into the boat to raise her a
little on the theory that stability wouldn't be much of an issue with her
low center of gravity. I was right. She clambered right in, took my GP, and
paddled around. She was a little surprised that she remembered how to do it.

I grabbed my F-1 and the Lightning paddle and soon we were both headed under
the freeway bridge towards "Hailey's Island". This is a pile of rocks just
south of I-90 that is distinguished from other rocks by having a couple of
trees growing on it. It's maybe 100 square feet of surface area. We
"discovered" it last summer and she took possession then.

Before we got into the bigger portion of the lake I introduced Hailey to
some basic rescue ideas and demonstrated how I'd hold her kayak steady while
she got back into it if she had to swim out. I didn't want her to actually
swim out as the water is still pretty cool. We continued on in a following
breeze and were soon at the island. Hailey cuddled up close to a rock and
then beckoned to me to come in beside her. The water around the island is
very shallow but I managed to get right next to her and then she asked me to
hold onto her kayak while she got out. So I did... and she got out of the
cockpit and crawled out onto the bow and stepped off onto the rock. Once
there she looked around a bit and then got back onto the bow and back into
the cockpit.

The wind had picked up... no whitecaps but it was a good 10 kts from the
west and we had to paddle almost directly into it to get back to the
underpass. She asked me to tow her but I had no tow line with me so I just
held onto her bow and paddled along for a bit until she decided she could go
faster than that on her own. We moved over next to the highway to get into a
bit of a lee and were soon under the freeway and back into our end of the
lake.

Once through the underpass the wind shifted and lightened and it was an easy
paddle back to our dock. I looked over and she was paddling nicely right on
the line to the dock and making a good 3 mph. Nice to see a little girl you
held as a baby growing into a young adult with the capability of paddling
alone. The only comparable feeling for me was flying in a glider in a
thermal while my son, Dan, was flying another glider in the same thermal. A
feeling of continuation.

It wasn't much of a paddle but it was about 1.3 statute miles that made a
difference to me. I'm hoping that as she gains endurance I can take her on
some more interesting paddles and maybe even introduce her to Puget Sound's
more protected areas.

Grandpa's have important jobs in our society, as it turns out. :)


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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